A Game
by acciowords
Summary: Julian realizes that no matter what he does, Logan will never see how he feels. He decides to make a game out of it.


A/N: Logan and Julian belong to CP Coulter, and are based off of her story, Dalton (go read it!), which is a Glee fan fiction. That's why this is under glee.. I didn't really know what to do with it...

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><p>"Julian!"<p>

"What?"

"Sometimes, it's like you've literally got your head up your own ass."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you realize that I have been talking? You're the one that asked me to study with you and you're not even paying attention," Logan huffed, annoyance clear in his voice.

"I am paying-"

"And what are you looking at? Is there something on my face?"

_Shit._ Julian quickly scrambled to recover, cursing himself for letting his guard down. "Aside from ugly? No, not that I can see," he quickly spat, wincing at his own tone. He could already tell that he had just instigated another fight, but being an asshole was his best disguise; he would take the consequences with a grain of salt. His suspicions were confirmed as he saw the familiar twist of anger on his best friend's face—that frustratingly _un_-ugly face.

"Oh, shut up. Judging from the way you were gawking for the last 3 minutes, I think I can safely conclude that you in no way find me ugly. Now stop you're blatant man-crushing and focus on the calculus."

Every time. Every single time Logan came that terrifyingly close to the truth, but remained _that_ unaware of it, it felt like a punch to the throat. That much ignorance could only stem from complete indifference. Julian suddenly felt exhausted, all of the residual resentment suddenly starting to take its toll. And for once, he felt like fighting back a little. He knew he would later regret it because of the sort of reckless apathy that he was feeling. As an actor who mostly couldn't give a shit, he was familiar with that feeling. The only difference here was that he had never been that way with Logan. With Logan, he had always cared, and so he was always painfully careful.

But in that one moment, Julian had an epiphany of sorts. Logan was apparently a blinded idiot. It's such an appropriate metaphor that we're going to roll with it. If you wave the world's easiest math problem in front of the world's blindest, dumbest, man, that man will never be able to solve it—no matter how easy the question is, or how much you wave it in that man's face. It's logic. Therefore, Julian might safely assume that no matter _how_ obvious he made his attraction to Logan, the dumbass would never notice. Therein lay the epiphany. He didn't _have _to care. He didn't have to be careful. He was going to have some reckless fun.

He decided to start off slow, make it a game, push his limits.

"No," he stated, as simple as could be. His face betrayed nothing but slight boredom. A perfect poker face.

"Huh? What are you on about, Julian, you're starting to annoy me. No, what?"

"No, I don't want to focus on the calculus. No, I don't want to stop gawking at you." By now, there were hints of playfulness dancing across his features.

"Oh?" Logan smirked, closing the book in front of him, "Well in that case, I'm sure we can find a better way to spend this time." He wasn't taking it seriously, of course. He was just being his usual, arrogant self. He was trying to make his straight friend uncomfortable by flirting with him. Julian knew the drill; he was supposed to back down now, make a snide remark, and then suggest they return to studying. Not this time.

He shifted in his chair just a little, so that he was angled towards Logan, moving slightly closer to him so that their knees brushed. "Yeah, ok. What did you have in mind?" he asked, holding the boy's gaze with a slight grin.

Logan's eyebrows quirked in surprise, but he didn't look away. His smirk just became a little more pronounced as a spark lit up in his eyes. He still had no idea what was going on, obviously, but he could sense a challenge, and he was never one to back down. He simply mirrored Julian's motions, a slight shift to the side as he slid forward in his chair. They were facing each other now, close enough that one of Julian's knees slid into place between Logan's.

"I don't know, Jules. You seem to have your own ideas taking form. You've caught my curiosity. _Do_ tell," he murmured, his eyes suddenly searching Julian's face. Every little movement was deliberate. Neither of them was a stranger to this sort of thing, but Logan was just a little surprised. He was surprised that Julian had decided to play whatever game it was they were playing, and he was surprised that the actor was applying his flirting expertise with girls so well to Logan.

Julian's breath hitched at Logan's lowered tone, at the way he was looking at him. They were too close. Julian was now fighting his every instinct. His brain and heart and muscles were all screaming at him to back down and stop pushing. He ignored all of it. He was sick of Logan being the exception to his every rule. With anyone else, this would be second nature. He forced himself to calm down, breathe steadily, and slow his racing heart rate. He would just pretend that Logan wasn't Logan.

"I think… that I'm bored," Julian said hesitantly, as he slowly began to walk his fingers up Logan's thigh.

Suddenly, a hand shot out to grab his wrist, and Julian looked up to see confusion starting to cloud Logan's eyes. Still oblivious. If it didn't hurt so much, Julian might have laughed. This game was actually pretty interesting. Just how far could he push?

"Julian," Logan's voice was sharp now, "what the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean, Lo," Julian asked with a feigned innocence, his eyes resting on Logan's hand, which was still wrapped around his wrist.

"I mean, you're flirting with me… which normally, I would just dismiss as part of your arrogant charm, but something's off about you," Julian listened as Logan tried to work it out, the thought process almost visible on his face. He was struggling to figure out what was different, and Julian felt himself getting angrier. It was incredibly frustrating how much effort was going into this, when Logan was supposed to be one of the very few people that knew him best. He clearly wasn't being reckless enough; maybe something as subtle as practically groping Logan wasn't enough.

Before his brain and heart and muscles could interfere again, Julian twisted the arm Logan was _still _holding, breaking the grip and grabbing onto Logan's wrist instead. Julian pulled Logan towards him, refusing to think about how much he would regret this. The only thoughts he allowed were centered on how sure he was that Logan would never see it. His eyes were locked onto the blonde's as he brought them closer and closer to each other. But then, with Logan's face just one inch from his own, something changed, and Julian froze. There was a shift in Logan's expression from confusion to sudden comprehension that quickly made Julian's blood run cold.

Time stopped as he began to realize that he had gone too far. And then all at once, his brain and heart and muscles all went into overdrive as he was stricken with the realization of what he'd just done. But even though this was possibly the worst moment of his life, he was suddenly glad that it seemed to be lasting an eternity. Logan was finally, _finally_, seeing him, and the look on his face was amazing. It was something Julian had yearned to have all to himself for years. He drank it up hungrily, memorizing everything about it: the sharp recognition in Logan's suddenly _very_ green eyes, the slight gape of his mouth, the way his nostrils flared as an omen of his forthcoming rage. It was what Julian had been asking for all along; this was it. Logan was giving him his undivided attention, but Julian's stomach was still clenched in dread.

Time started moving again. Logan slowly began to pull away from his best friend who, up until just now, had been straight. Julian let Logan's wrist slip from his grasp as he forced himself to straighten up, too. The moment, the reckless fun, was quickly passing, and the regret and fear was starting to crash down on him. He couldn't tell if he had won or lost, but either way, game over.


End file.
